Ethics in the Information Society

Globethics.net and Information Ethics

Information, communication and knowledge are key drivers of development in globalised, multicultural, knowledge-based societies. How can they be used in order to strengthen ethical development and avoid unethical consequences?These issues are the focus of "Ethics in the Information Society", a project of Globethics.net 2013-2015. As a mainly online platform, Globethics.net is directly involved in using the Internet for access to information for the benefit of all.

The Ethics of Digital Innovation: Towards a Values-driven Information Society

The World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2015 represented the world's largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development' community. The Forum was co-organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). It was intended to help organisations coordinate multi-stakeholder activities, information exchange, the creation of knowledge, and the sharing of best practices.

Globethics.net organised a workshop on the 29th of May, on "The Ethics of Digital Innovation", during which fundamental questions surrounding the many social, legal and economic repercussions of new digital technologies, and what power relations are at play were raised and addressed.

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

Meeting in two sessions in Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005), the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was one of the broadest platforms for work on such issues. A decade later the WSIS +10 Review Process 2013-2015 is taking stock of what has been achieved since then and setting out challenges for the future. Globethics.net as a global network of persons and specialists engaged on ethics is seeking to contribute to this process. Globethics.net was present at the first WSIS+10 Review meeting held at UNESCO in February 2013, and the WSIS Forum 2013 in Geneva in May 2013.

Globethics.net research and resources

In this discussion paper, Globethics.net calls for value-based decisions and actions for the development of information, communication and knowledge. It is based on seven core values: equity, freedom, care and compassion, participation, sharing, sustainability and responsibility. These values are exemplified on nine core topics of the information and knowledge society, the "Nine P's": principles, participation, people, profession, privacy, piracy, protection, power and policy. The Globethics.net Board of Foundation discussed and acknowledged the issue paper on 5 May 2013.

This research undertaken for the Global Ethics Forum 2012 by the World Association for Christian Communication, a Globethics.net partner, addresses the issue of how social media are revolutionizing how people create, store, transmit and consume information and knowledge. Such a transformation raises profound questions about the way we communicate, about human identity and continuity. These new media and ways of networking have important implications for society, culture, and politics. Download here.

Resources available in the Globethics.net online libraries

The International Review of Information Ethics envisions an international as well as intercultural discussion focusing on the ethical impacts of information technology on human practices and thinking, social interaction, other areas of science and research and the society itself. Information ethics as understood here deals with ethical questions in the field of digital production and reproduction of phenomena and processes such as the exchange, combination and use of information.

Media Development is an international quarterly journal published by the World Association for Christian Communication, and dedicated to the theory and practice of communication around the world. Many contributors write from the perspective of the South, highlighting social, cultural, and spiritual values.